Ok, okay, so I’m an Obama man through and through and there wasn’t going to be a Romney VP pick that could change that but the problem with Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan is that he’s not going to win over anyone’s vote that wasn’t already going to vote for Romney anyway. I’m not judging him based on biased ideological merit, I’m judging him based on objective strategy. Why Ryan is a strategically lousy pick in almost every way…
1. He Carries No Purple States With Him. Unlike Marco Rubio (senator from Florida) or Bob McConnell (Governor of Virginia), Paul Ryan of Wisconsin doesn’t carry any purple states with him. Wisconsin will almost certainly go for Obama, and, if it doesn’t, who gives a shit? They carry a whooping ten electoral college votes. T-E-N. It won’t be enough to win this race for Romney anyway. He needs Florida (27 votes), Ohio (20), or Pennsylvania (21). Even Virginia (14) or North Carolina (15) would help out more. Those are the states Romney must win at least three or four of to be the next president, and he’s down in all of them except NC right now.
2. Representative Ryan is a Representative. You know the last representative to make the leap to president? James Garfield. That’s because representatives just aren’t as important as senators or governors. It would be almost impossible for someone to make the leap from representative (which has a fractionally tiny district compared to a senator) to president today, and nearly as unlikely for them to be VP. Ryan can’t even help bring in Wisconsin for the Romney campaign, he’s not even a big enough deal in that state, let alone the country. That’s why it makes no strategic sense for Romney to pick Ryan.
3. A “Romney/Ryan” Ticket Sound Exciting To You?…One of the biggest problems Romney’s facing is that he is so damn boring. Bill Maher once accurately dubbed him “The Dos Equis Least Interesting Man in the World.” And it seems exactly like the typical cold, blue-blood, stuffy old white guy thinking that a young cold, blue-blood stuffy white guy is exactly the energy the ticket needs! Zzzzzzzz…
4. Ryan Is a Cold, Stuffy, Blue-Blood White Guy…1. Paul Ryan is not a woman, so he doesn’t help out Romney’s women problem (Obama beats him handily in that coveted demo). 2. Paul Ryan is not Latino, so he doesn’t help out Romney’s diversity problem. 3. Paul Ryan is a blue-blood, rich-catering corporate douche, pretty much exactly what Romney’s accused of being. There’s not a single demographic that Romney is struggling with that will be won over by Ryan being on the ticket.
5. He Has No Blue Collar Appeal…Sure, women don’t like Romney much, and minorities even less so, but Romney’s other big demographic problem is that he’s not able to appeal to “Reagan Democrats.” Those blue collar workers that like Republican “Populism” (like no welfare and better jobs) but aren’t won over by the mega-rich, aloof, tax-dodging Mormon who they’re supposed to love. Ryan won’t change that. In fact, he’s the Ayn Rand-worshipping weirdo congressman that wants to slash popular entitlements (Medicare, Social Security) they depend on.
6. Even Old People Won’t Like Ryan…Mitt Romney beats Barack Obama in only two demographics right now: white men and old people. And old people are not going to like Paul Ryan. He’s the ruthless whipper-snapper (imagine a charisma-less Michael Corleone at the end of The Godfather) who wants to cut their Medicare and Social Security. The Republican plan to do just that is his plan, when they’re advocating the end of these and other popular entitlements, they literally call it “following the Ryan plan.”
7. He’s Just Fucking Weird…This is the guy that makes his staffers read Ayn Rand books. Who is a fanatic about some workout called PX90 and routinely talks about his “ripped abs.” It’s like Mitt thought “Hmmm, people think I’m a Mormon robot weirdo, so I’ll go out and find the one person in the Republican Party that some people find even less populist.”
8. Paul Ryan Is Roman Catholic…You know what else Romney doesn’t need right now? Anymore questions about religion. Mitt is having to run as the first Mormon presidential candidate in a party that would never win anything without evangelical Christian votes. Ryan’s strict Roman Catholicism (he’s not even a moderate Catholic) won’t make it any easier for them to hold their noses and vote for Mormon Mitt.
9. He’s the “Intellectual Republican” Darling…I know, I know, “intellectual Republicans” (an oxymoron if there ever was one) love Paul Ryan because he’s recycling all of their most radical ideas as new. Reminds me of what I like to say, “A conservative is just someone who mistakes yesterday’s failed policies for tomorrow’s innovative solutions.” The problem is that it’s not “intellectual Republicans” that Romney needs to win over. It’s the independents, the moderates, the people that aren’t interested in listening to winded lectures about Austrian economics or the perils of the welfare state. People are losing their fucking homes, their jobs, their way of life, and they don’t want to listen to an “ideologically pure” Republican sermon about how much more we could give up. They want to listen to the pat, overly simplistic phrases of Ronald Reagan in a grandfatherly warm tone…Ryan’s not that guy.
10. He’s Just Exactly What the Romney Campaign Doesn’t Need Right Now…You know who the Romney campaign needs right now? A big, dumb, lovable purple or red state evangelical with country-fried wisdom and a soothing demeanor. Someone who can make stupid ideas sound smart just because you like him so much. They need Mike Huckabee. Paul Ryan is the exact anti-Huckabee.
He exasperates problems with the base (not evangelical enough, another Republican in a blue state, a darling to the establishment but not the masses), he frightens Democrats (his economics are what we’ve been fighting against…he’s one of our most hated Republicans in congress right now), he picks up no new groups Romney needs (women, gays, Latinos, Asians, poor people, working class people, shit, anyone who’s not a stuffy white douche), potentially alienates his old-people base, and just generally won’t win over anyone who wasn’t already going to vote for Romney anyway (like those “Republican intellectuals” that already favored Romney over Perry/Cain/Bachmann). It’s like they’re just not getting that this isn’t the 1950’s and there is a larger America out there than just blue-blooded white guys…and I’m saying that as someone who fits two-thirds of that description. [For the record, I would have gone with Susan Martinez if it were me.]
Sure, Ryan probably won’t say anything too stupid while they’re campaigning. But you can’t afford to play it safe when you’re already 7 points behind, and the electoral college is not your friend this time. It’s all about the path to the purple state trifecta (Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania) and Ryan doesn’t help you with that.
Obama 2012. Winning!
According to Reuters, the super-rich have approximately $32 TRILLION dollars hidden away in offshore accounts – roughly $280 billion of which represents lost income tax revenue. Logically, going after this money would be a step in the right direction, and would alleviate many of our financial woes. However, one can only assume that razing Social Security and welfare programs for the middle-, working-, and underclasses is a “harvest of human souls” gesture of the lunatic Right. (I used to be a Republican – when we had President Eisenhower, relative prosperity, and 90% tax for the rich…)
The romneyhood team is now complete.
If Americans are stupid enough to vote these clowns into office I’m moving to Canada.
Man, fuck this clown. this just shows romneyhood has no fucking clue what americans are going through right now.
Another tone-deaf move from the Romney campaign. “hey, people don’t trust us cuz we’re rich tax evaders, let’s get the guy who also believes in lowering taxes for the rich.”
I never thought this race would be this close. With disparity at 2% wealthy verses 98% poor you would think the voting equivalency would be similar. However, the reason that the tea-party and so many other dirt poor citizens ( currently benefiting from Medicare Social Security and other programs they claim as entitlements ) is rallying around the corporate lordship base, is because they are fiercely afraid of sharing these same entitlements with so called minorities. They would rather pretend there is no need for any governing. Government programs also include police, hospitals, public education and recreation, waste management, etc. Why not privatize these too Ryan/Romney. By the way, I put Ryan’s name first because Mitt doesn’t even have enough respect for the position to form his own campaign vision and stomp with it – he just buys this spokesperson like he buys everything else. Furthermore, not all – but many of these dirt poor blind followers of far right conservatism are racists, while the rest seek groups that promote individualism rather than community. Too bad they are being used and made fools of by the same group they are trying to empower. This is why democrats, centrist and moderate republicans, independents, persons who embrace change and well…people who are secure with themselves – are distancing themselves from this backward thinking bunch of lunatics.
Forward/2012